


Our Land

by OakwoodOuroboros



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, F/F, Western, big bad company vs farmers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22230766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OakwoodOuroboros/pseuds/OakwoodOuroboros
Summary: For centuries, the land of Etheria has been at peace, before the Horde Oil Company started slowly buying land. Like gangrene, it attacked and extracted the natural ressources, leaving only waste and desolation behind. Adora, a Horde supervisor, has no idea of the importance she has to play in this war. (working synopsis)
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Kudos: 6





	Our Land

As far as the eye could see, cows grazed on the lush grassland that was lent itself to the name of Bright Moon. Beyond them stood the dark line of the Whispering Woods, so called for the constant wind that swirled and swooped through the trees like so many swifts. The clouds sat like spun sugar on the crest of the horizon, dyed in soft pinks, purples and oranges from the setting sun.

Glimmer watched all this from where she stood, barefoot in the grass in front of the farmhouse. Her evening routine, counting cows, had nearly come to an end. 

The cattle were her mother’s pride and joy. Unlike the other farmers in the area, who grew wheat, corn and vegetables, their family had gone with the less easy option of keeping animals for meat and dairy. They easily managed to keep their head above water despite this and lived a life of ease, the life of a queen, Angella would have said. Still, things were not quite as perfect as they seemed, as Glimmer knew well. In fact…

Just as she was watching her, one of the piebald cows bucked, then crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Someone was tampering with their cattle again, and Glimmer knew exactly who the culprit was.

“Mom! We’ve lost another one!” the young girl cried, the slapping of her feet against the stone cobbles surrounding the home sounding louder than her shouts, somehow. Glimmer got to the stables at last, didn’t even bother saddling her horse before setting off at a canter down the green hill.

By the time she arrived, it was too late. The cow had passed away, and she knew her meat would be inedible as soon as she saw the dart in the animal’s neck. It had been poisoned, obviously, but by whom, no one could tell. Or rather, it was difficult to pin the blame on a singular person, but the fact of the matter was that Glimmer knew exactly who was behind this. 

The sound of hooves on the turf resounded behind her, and there, in all her glory, the self-proclaimed ‘Queen’ Angella sat sidesaddle on her horse, now trotting up to her daughter with worry barring her face. She stopped and slipped out of her seat, approaching the collapsed cow. With every step she took forward, her face became more stony, and by the time she set eyes on the poison arrow, she was downright terrifying even to her own blood.

“Glimmer, get away from the forest, I don’t want you getting an arrow too,” she snapped, prying the cow’s mouth open to get a look at her tongue. 

Despite her cold demeanour, Glimmer stood strong. With crossed arms and as much determination as she could muster, she said the following: “Mother, I’ll go into the forest and find the culprit, and we’ll have them stoned to death in the town square.”

“Glimmer! How can you say something so horrendous? We’re not like that, we would never do such a thing, even if we found the culprit, we’ll just pass them on to the sheriff and that will be that. Now please go back to the farmhouse and stop riding in such an undignified manner!”

“Mom! This is serious!”

“ _ I _ am serious Glimmer. Go back to the farmhouse this instant!” Angella snapped, the look on her face the scariest it had been yet. Her daughter took a step back from the intensity of her anger. 

“Ok mom, alright. Just, I’m nineteen, can you learn to trust me some day?”

“Glimmer…”

The girl hopped on her horse and sped off, not wanting to receive any more berating from her mother. She really did wish that she would allow her more freedom, to allow her to take her place on the farm and to have duties other than counting the cows every evening. She wanted to be out there, to be a  _ ranger _ .

Not that her mother would ever allow that.

She sighed and patted her horse’s neck. There really wasn’t much that she could do apart from meet up with Bow from time to time and revel in his heroic tales of him stopping cattle thieves with nothing but his lasso and steed. He was barely her age, but he had known so much more adventure in a single day of his life than she had ever experienced. Glimmer had barely gone beyond the farm, the place where they kept their more valuable cattle, and the town at the junction of the other farmer’s respective lands. 

And now more than ever they needed as many rangers on duty as possible.

The horse’s hooves tapped loudly against the stone covering the ground as they entered the stables, where a stable hand was waiting to take the animal off her to water and brush it. She declined, as usual, and did so herself.

“I’m not your princess, mom,” she muttered. “And I’ll prove to Horde Oil Company that our land is worth more than anything they are willing to do to us.”

* * *

The rig was now complete. Amongst the clanging of metal and screech of rock against rock, a faint whistle could be heard, signalling the end of the shift for the workers in the area. As a supervisor, Adora had to make sure that this happened smoothly, and that the workers would not steal anything from the priceless piece of technology standing in front of them. Even vaseline had a price now, and as worthless as it seemed at first, it had become something worth investing in. 

Adora stood on top of the metal platform overlooking the work area, smiling at herself. All her training, all her hard work had come to fruition at last, and she was now a supervisor. Going up in rank wasn’t easy, but she had managed to, and one day maybe she would be maybe be able to be the supervisor’s supervisor, like Weaver was. 

“Heyyyy Adora…” was the only warning she got before Catra pounced on her from behind, sending her tumbling head over heels and landing with the other woman sitting on her abdomen, as if all was right in the world.

“Catra! Can you like, not give me a concussion next time you see me?”

“Tch, that’s not fun though. C’mon, let’s get out of this place.”

Catra was a fellow worker whom Adora had known for years prior. They had grown up together and were best friends. Really, their relationship felt like something that could never deteriorate.

“You got promoteeeeeeeed…” Catra drawled, leaning on Adora as they walked towards the cloakroom. “You can get me some more grey ration bars. You know, the good ones.”

“Sure I’ll get those for you, but after what happened to Kyle last week, I want to make sure he has some first.”

“Urgh, Adora!”

“I know, my good heart will be my downfall. Fear not though, for I have found something better than ration bars…”

Catra came up behind her again, whispering in her ear. “So… You’ve raided the supervisor’s food cabinet then?” she snickered.

“Oh goodness, if only, but I did manage to get my hands on a ham.”

The rest of the walk to the cloakroom was spent in excited chatter. All in all, they had a contented life, were it not for a few patches here and there that darkened the whole picture.

Catra tripped. Catra, one of the leanest, fittest people that Adora knew, tripped over something that Adora didn’t see. It was an event in and of itself, but fortunately the blonde wasn’t too surprised by it that it didn’t impede on her own reflexes. She caught the brunette with a swing of her arm, seconds before she hit the floor.

“Careful Catra, you don’t want any accidents to happen, do you now?” Weaver chuckled, moving past them in heeled shoes. “Congratulations on your promotion, Adora, I am deeply proud of you. Now both of you, go to the cloakroom, it’s brown ration bars tonight.”

“Not if I can help it,” Adora whispered to Catra once their supervisor was out of earshot. They raced each other to the cloakroom, where the rest of their old squad were waiting for them.

“Adora!” Lonnie was the first to greet them with a smile and a wave. “So we were just chilling here, when Rogelio smelled something that couldn’t possibly have been a ration bar, so we took the liberty to… root around a little bit, and we found  _ this! _ ”

Lonnie triumphantly held up the piece of meat that she had fished out of her superior’s locker. 

“You see, there is nothing that can resist Rogelio’s lock-breaking skills! Unfortunately,  _ Kyle _ bit a piece out of it, so there is going to be a little less for everyone.” 

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. So, apart from breaking into my locker and stealing my stuff, what have you all been doing today?”

They talked about their days then, interrupted more than once by Catra, who managed to steal and eat half of the meat, leaving the other part untouched, Adora knowing that she had done so in the intent of leaving it for her later on. Adora, as kind as she was (and as idiotic as Catra thought her to be) divided up what left to share with the others, even including Kyle, despite his previous mistake. 

In the end, Catra and Adora found themselves on the roof, watching the sun set over the Freight Zone, the place that they had made, the barren land dented here and there with heavy machinery extending as far as the eye could see. 

“You know, Adora, I want to do something really special. Something that will change the way you see the world,” the ranger woman whispered under her breath, her harsh frizzy hair waving in the hot wind. Adora looked up from where she was sitting, the torn knees in Catra’s jeans showing off her tan skin. Her expression hadn’t changed from the half-bored, half-disenchanted one that she had been harbouring since earlier on, but there was a glimmer, something playful in her eyes. 

“Let’s go on an adventure,” she whispered, and from then Adora knew that they were going to not come out of this one unscathed.


End file.
